"She's on here way here," Tomo said, looking into the distance as he felt the unmistakable presence of Lucy coming ever closer to where he and Bandoh were. "We'd better get ready and into position," he advised. He turned to find his "partner" playfully aiming his gun at imaginary enemies and making his own gunshot sound effects. The scene resembled that of a child playing with a toy, which sent a peculiarly sick lurch in Tomo's stomach. It was clear to see that he was getting excited, and that he had not heard a word Tomo said. Tomo repeated himself, speaking louder so as to be heard over Bandoh's childlike behavior. Bandoh stopped instantly, face flushing a little in the dark.
"It's party time," Bandoh cheered, cocking the gun for emphasis.
"Remember the plan. I'll be hiding over there, ready to help if things get...messy," he said, indicating with his finger toward a group of nearby crates.
"Don't worry," Bandoh answered defiantly, "I don't plan on losing to that bitch again."
"Of course," Tomo replied with a polite bow of the head. He watched as the human smiled another obnoxious grin, going through some ridiculous looking warm up, still blissfully unaware of Tomo's true intention. Now sitting behind the crate, and out of sight, he pulled out the gun from the back of his jeans pants and cradled in lightly in his hands like it was some fragile infant he did not wish to drop. This is going to be interesting.
By the time Lucy arrived at the beach, the sun was only just starting to rise out of the ocean horizon. The sounds of the waves and blending colors of the sky, usually calming, were now oddly ominous in the given circumstances of the empty shore. She paced cautiously down the steps and onto the beach, the sand crunching underneath her steps. Taking long looks to her left and then her right, she saw no indication that a diclonius, or anybody else or that matter, was anywhere nearby. Unsure why she even came in the first place, Lucy turned over excuse after excuse in her mind while making her way here. If someone else was still after her, and especially if it was another diclonius, then she had to deal with them. Otherwise it might put the others, and Kohta, in danger. That was what she told herself anyway. But that was just a cheap way to reconcile coming. She knew that the truth of the matter was that the real force driving her to this unknown, and possibly dangerous feeling, was plain old curiosity. And what was that old saying about curiosity. Best no to go there.
Standing in the tide as the waves spread over her ankles, feeling certain this was where the feeling was coming from, Lucy was starting to become confused. Now that she was here, the feeling had vanished. Gone as mysteriously as it had came. She took two more glances to her sides, afraid she was being deceived into a false sense of security, or maybe she might have missed something. Nothing. Lucy wondered now if she had imagined the whole thing and wasted a trip for nothing more then an aftereffect of a bad dream. Feeling foolish, she almost turned to leave when she felt another sensation, though different from the one that brought her here. It was a primal sort of feeling in nature. She felt like she was in danger. Instincts taking over, she dived to the right side just as a soft POP reverberated in the air and a single bullet struck where she had just been, kicking up a pillar of sand. Rolling onto her back and then to her knees, she looked at who assaulted her.
"Remember me bitch," said a voice spiced with hate, clearly astonished and upset she had dodged the first attack. He stepped out from behind a large crate he used as a vantage point, aiming a gun level with her heart. Lucy's eyes widened with recognition.
"YOU!"
Bandoh shot off two more bullets, their sound muffled by the silencer. Lucy rolled out of their path before they hit the ground. Stumbling to her feet, she predictably ran for the area strewn about with things she could use for protection. She ducked behind another large crate, breathing heavy and a survival adrenaline washing over her. She listened to his slow approaching footsteps, each step mirroring the beating of her heart.
"Come on, don't you wanna play," he called out to her. She remained still and silent, determined to stay hidden as long as she could. "Oh I get it, hide and seek right? Come out, come out, where ever you are." He spoke every word with an icy precision. Piercing her skin and attacking her soul. And not for the first time in a long while, Lucy again feared for her life. I knew I shouldn't have come here.
If Bandoh wasn't so focused, he may have noticed that Lucy no longer had her horns. But all else was now forcibly cast out of his mind. He stalked his prey through the maze of shipping boxes, drum barrels, old abandoned fishing boats and nets, and other pieces of debris, taking his sweet time as he did. He could end this quickly and easily if he wanted to, but where was the fun in that? He was going to juice as much entertainment out of this as humanly possible. Now acute to the smallest hints of sound and movement, an attribute derived from years of training and service in various military organizations, he waited. Craning his head around every possible hiding place, Bandoh remembered with vivid detail each humiliating defeat handed to him by that little horned bitch. How he lost both his eyes and a hand to her. How she insulted him by letting him live both times. But this time would be different. This time it was his turn. Third times the charm.
Footsteps behind him, and he swiftly turned firing his gun just as a foot disappeared behind more debris, missing by inches. "What's the matter, don't you want to fight anymore," he spat, getting frustrated. After patiently waiting for this moment, she wasn't even making it fun by facing him head on. He calmed himself, knowing he needed to keep a level head if he wanted to beat her. He wasn't going to underestimate her this time.
"Big bad ass bitch not up to snuff anymore," he provoked, hoping to coax her out of hiding. "What happened to that killing machine I know and love? I brought you all the way out here just to say hi!" Bandoh continued to berate her as he peered around every edge. He could at least enjoy taunting her. More movement, and Bandoh fired more bullets, barely missing her again. Keep on running, he thought to himself, You'll run out of hiding spots eventually. And I can keep this up all day.
Lucy ducked her head as she dashed behind a wooden boat, more bullets flying, wanting to get as far from her attacker as she could. She didn't know how he did it, but somehow he had managed to lure her here with something the closely resembled that of a diclonius aura. Perhaps he had some machine tucked away that could do such a thing. Either way, she had been fooled. It was unimportant to think about it now. She had more pressing matters to attend to. Surviving for one, which wouldn't last long if she kept this up. She could rap her mind around the mystery of it after she got out alive. Looking ahead, she saw that the debris ran out soon, leaving only another long patch of beach and sand. She was going to run out of places to hide. She listened to his raving and taunting, using the sound of his voice to tell how close he was and whether she could risk moving. He was getting closer.
For a moment Lucy considered running back the opposite way, but Bandoh was now upturning every empty space he came across with his enhanced hand. Making her only other escape route completely and utterly useless. Doesn't he ever quit. An old anger was starting to bubble inside her. She had been kind enough to spare his petty life twice. Something she didn't too often back in the day. And both times he had repaid her with another assault on her life. Even worse was that this was nothing more then a personal vendetta on his part. It had nothing to do with her being a diclonius. She was sick of it. Sick of being hunted, of hiding behind trash, and mostly, she was sick of him. Why couldn't they all just leave her alone? You want to die so badly, so be it. Her mind set, she quickly accessed her situation. She knew she had at least one advantage over him. As long as he didn't surprise her, she could deflect his bullets easily with her vectors. And he'd run out of ammo sooner or later.
Gingerly she looked around the barrel her back was pressed tightly against to see Bandoh walking precariously close. He was silent again, his back turned as he looked behind a crate. Seizing the opportunity, Lucy jumped to her feet from behind the barrel running at her fullest speed, ramming her whole body into the back of him. The both of them fell to the ground and tumbled, their arms and legs hitting several objects. One of Lucy's legs hit the edge of a steel crate, now brandishing a bleeding gash on her calf. Having no time to think about the pain in her leg, she got to her feet first after they both stopped rolling, Bandoh reaching for his gun which he lost grip of, more bullets beating the sand just as Lucy dived behind a wooden boat.
"COME OUT OF HIDING AND FUCKING FACE ME YOU GUTLESS BITCH!" His frustration was apparent and at a paramount. Good, Lucy thought. If he was agitated, then he was more likely to make a mistake or get sloppy. Using her vectors, she picked up a drum barrel close by and hurled it at him. It was pointless however. All these items were too big and he was effortlessly seeing it being lifted in the air by nothing and dived out of the way just as easily. She hounded him with this tactic though anyway. He was out of range of her vectors now, and at least she could keep him concentrated on avoiding her throws and not on shooting her.
Bandoh continued his own impromptu tactics, firing in random directions as he came out of his dive rolls, hoping to get a lucky shot. After so many minutes of this back and forth combat, Lucy decided it was time to end this. Giving him one last hurl of debris, she stood up from behind where she was hiding. There was no other way to end this quickly. She had run through almost every other possible choice, but this was the only realistic one. The two looked directly at one another, her eyes reverting to the same deathly expression she wore last time they met. She didn't budge so much as a centimeter.
"Oh, and I was just starting to have fun," Bandoh said trying to sound disappointed. He too was unmovable. He aimed his gun directly at her. "What are you going to do huh? You can't get me from way over there, and if you take one more step I'll put a fucking bullet in your brain." Lucy said nothing, unaffected by these treats. "If you surrender, I might kill you quickly. Might." Again Lucy remained mute. She stepped forward, moving slowly among what was left of the crates and barrels. Neither one was showing any signs of feeling threatened, both radiating the same strict confidence. The sounds of the environment around fell on deaf ears to the two of them. And then it happened like lightning.
Just as the heel of Lucy's foot came down just before two meters, Bandoh fired another round. Lucy extended her vectors to block it, but it just flew through the invisible hand as if it weren't there at all. Flying so fast she was unaware of this, the bullet skidded the side of Lucy's head, throwing her back and rolling her to the shore. Thoroughly bewildered, Lucy brought a hand to her head, a patch of red at her finger tips when she brought it back to inspect it. Her head felt like it was split in half, her brain still vibrating from the impact inside her skull.
"Shit! I missed," Bandoh said, standing three meters from her for precautionary sake. "Looks like you lost your edge girl. Now, it's over bitch." Lucy tried to find something to use as a projectile, but anything of significance was out of range, including Bandoh himself. It was over. She had lost, and was now about to die. Bandoh replaced the empty mag with a fresh one, tossing the empty one behind him. Lucy closed her eyes and braced herself for death. It's what I deserve anyway. In the darkness of her shut eyes, she could think of only one thing she would truly miss. Kohta, I'm so sorry. As if with her minds eye, she could clearly visualize the gun finding its target in the middle of her forehead as Bandoh basked in the moment. "Game over bitch. You lose." Then there was a loud BANG.
Bandoh dropped the gun, grasping his shoulder which was now pouring of his own blood as pain coursed through his veins. Another shot, and this time the bullet hit his leg, sending Bandoh to the ground. Unsure of what happened, Bandoh turned to find where the shots had originated. Standing with a 9mm pistol gripped firmly in his hands, smoke seeping out its barrel...was Tomo?! Surely this was some kind of sick joke. But the conviction on Tomo's face said otherwise, and soon the truth became known to Bandoh. He had been played. He planned this. That little mother fucker betrayed me. His anger was rising to new levels of intensity, levels never before felt by him. Feelings stronger even then what he felt toward Lucy. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS YOU LITTLE SHIT!" That was what he wanted to say. But before the words could pass from thought and to his lips, Tomo pulled the trigger again, sending a bullet right between Bandoh's eyes, a red mist glittering the breeze. Bandoh, the great soldier and mercenary, was dead.
Lucy's eyes were transfixed on the black haired stranger, at a complete loss for words about what just transpired. He continued to point the gun at the unmoving body of the mercenary, his body frozen like time had stopped. Leisurely he lowered his gun, the morning sun casting a heroic yet haunting glow about him. He looked at her, holding her gaze before rushing over to her, a look of genuine concern now on his face.
"Are you ok," he asked quickly. Lucy did not answer. Too many questions were now weighing down on her for her to be able to vocalize a reply. Not to mention the shock that still rattled her. Not appearing to need an answer, he rolled up the pants leg of Lucy's hurt leg to examine the wound.
"Does this hurt," he asked pressing down on her leg. She winched slightly.
"A little," she answered finally, unable to stay silent any longer under the sting.
"Well it looks like the wound isn't to deep. Still you shouldn't put too much weight on it for a while." He unrolled her pants and then went to closely look at the cut on her head, which was still bleeding a little. After carefully examining it, he spoke again. "It just grazed you a little. You should be fine. Your very lucky you know that," he said smiling at her. "Can you stand?"
He stood up and extended his hand to help her up. Lucy was taken completely aback by this unfamiliar, chivalrous kindness. Especially in a complete stranger.
"I think so," she replied plainly as she took his hand into hers and he pulled her to her feet. She tried to walk, but after one step, buckled under the scathing pain of her leg. The stranger quickly caught her and raised her arm over his shoulder.
"Maybe I should help," he said with a smile, and what Lucy thought she saw as a slight blush. Carrying half her weight, he lead her up the beach where, at a garbage bin, he deposited the gun.